dianec42

Making good progress on Deer Trail. I learned that social Zoom calls are a great time to stitch. Somehow the cats let me get away with it!

... is cross stitching.

Recently finished the 4th (of 4) Christmas Pusheens. Still working on Mill Hill Haunted Graveyard. Started a new one from the book "Cross Stitch in the Forest" by (I am not making this up) Max Pigeon of PigeonCoop Designs.

I got through all of the easy, light-colored stitching on the Halloween Mill Hill kit. Now it's a gothic nightmare of dark (everything) on black. I may end up putting it away until spring when there's more light.


Today I had a brainwave and realized that I could take these 3 finished Christmas Pusheen cross stitches and turn them into something suitable for hanging on the tree! For backing, I have some scrap fabric that is a lovely festive red. Unfortunately getting the sewing machine out is a hassle so (in my wisdom) I decided to try hand sewing. It's a bit of a slog. But I haven't drawn blood yet so I've got that going for me.

Whoof. These are getting harder.

The original planned layout:



An alternative layout:



I went with the second layout (approximately), here it is finished (ruler for scale):



Given that it needed 4 colors, of the ones I had, this was going to be obnoxiously loud no matter what. I struggled, especially at the end. On the last seam, one of the previous seams flipped its direction (on the underside, of course, so I didn't see it) causing me to have to sew through rather more layers of fabric than anticipated. I broke my top thread on the first go, forced it through on the second go. There's also a bit of a pucker on one of the blobby purple bits on the final seam. I have decreed it to be Good Enough because (a) I can't see the pucker from 4 feet away, and (b) will you LOOK at those POINTS.

Unlike the previous blocks which all came out a tad smaller than the intended 12.5" on a side, this one seems to be a smidge larger?? I was pretty tired by the end of it(*) so I may have been measuring wrong. I will deal with that another day.

(*) honestly I was pretty tired and short of brain when I started. I'm impressed I made a thing at all.

I got Block 3 done, in a single day! I'm somewhat surprised that it's pretty much square, AND pretty much exactly the same size as the first two.



They do get harder after this. But I think I'm getting decently good at this so far.

P.S. I was briefly bummed that I didn't think to cut the aqua so the directional pattern would all go the same way. But I think I like this better - it has kind of a swirly water thing going on.

My workplace is doing a series of human-interest videos about employees and our hobbies. They featured me and my cross stitch obsession!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlNXT-yQHC8

I'm impressed they managed to make a video of me where I could stand watching the rough cuts. :D

On the other hand, this reminds me that I have an Instagram and I should post about 1000000000 things to it. Or any things, honestly.

On the other other hand, wow my craft room is a mess.

On the fourth hand (rapidly running out of hands), my crafting table is now clear because of this, so yay!

Prefacing this with, I don't think I finished anything at all in 2021. So it is a joy and a relief to have finished a thing!

I got this birthday card in November and squeed audibly. It has the pattern inside! This is my first finish of 2022. Yes, I know, the pattern is actually different from what's shown on the front. It's still super cute.


Half an ass is better than none, so I banged it into a cheap-ass frame from Michaels and called it done.


I used all DMC Etoile threads for this. They're nicely sparkly and only moderately annoying to work with. The lovely tin of threads is descending into chaos.


The card is by Moonpig. I gather it's an online service. My husband's aunt and cousin in the UK have used it to send us cards in the US a few times. I'm tempted to see if they have more cute designs like this. Because I totally need more projects...

Click to embiggen!


I designed it myself, using graph paper and software (Jane Greenoff Gold from around 2002 which I HATE and really need to upgrade to something reasonable, bu I digress). I stitched the house on the right and decided I hated the contrast, so the house on the left is a shade darker. I stitched using an unholy amalgam of Anchor and DMC threads from my stash.

I'm planning on updating the chart to show (DMC versions of) the colors I actually used, then releasing the chart as a PDF. Who knows, maybe Reddit will like it and other people will do it.

A friend of mine want to know if I'm selling them. LOL! I am slow and easily distracted and we'd probably be halfway through the NEXT pandemic before I complete another one. It was fun though.

I've done some sewing in the past but generally under adult supervision, and I've never acquired the proper habits so my creations always look a bit wonky. Lately I am overcome with the twin urges to create something useful, and get in touch with my inner girlygirl.

To that end, I bought a book, "Love at First Stitch [Dressmaking Demystified]" which includes a series of projects from a basic headscarf all the way up to a fully lined dress. The projects are interspersed with anecdotes, advice, and how-tos. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Today I went to my local Jo-Ann and went nuts in the remnant section. One of my finds was a glorious purple Halloween print with black chandeliers and spiders on it, which became a scarf. (Enough remains to make a cushion with... well, okay, with a cross stitch I haven't started yet. Sigh. This is how they get you.)

My scarf is not as long as the book said to make it, and the edges are a tad wobbly; but I followed the instructions and I made it. There is not another one like it in the whole world. Photo below the cut:

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I am inordinately pleased with myself. Next up, raiding the "What was I thinking?" end of my fabric stash to make hideous floral pyjama bottoms. Oh, and monkeying around with the tension on my machine, as anything other than a straight stitch results in angry bobbin thread tangles. And establishing a sewing routine in the dining room so I don't have to run downstairs every time I need to press a seam.

Luckily, just an outburst of creativity.

I think I've been reading too many of those crafty magazines, and have even taken something away from them other than the odd sensation of being hopelessly old and square.

Utterly random question: What do people think of "arts & crafts" type stuff in SF convention art shows? I sometimes look down my nose at such things, especially when there's no obvious SF theme; but it is certainly a way to get one's work out there.

It's unlikely to come to that, at least any time soon. But it is something that bears thinking about.